Abstract:
About 480 nm thick titanium oxide (TiO2) thin films have been deposited by electron
beam evaporation followed by annealing in air at 300—600oC with a step of 100oC for a
period of two hours. Optical, electrical and structural properties are studied as a function
of annealing temperature. All the films are crystalline (having tetragonal anatase
structure) with small amount of amorphous phase. Crystallinity of the films improves
with annealing at elevated temperatures. XRD and FESEM results suggest that the films
are composed of nanoparticles of 25-35 nm. Raman analysis and optical measurements
suggest quantum confinement effects since Raman peaks of the as-deposited films are
blue-shifted as compared to those for bulk TiO2. Optical band gap energy of the asdeposited
TiO2 film is 3.21 eV, which decreases to about 3.06 eV after annealing at 600
oC. Refractive index of the as-deposited TiO2 film is 2.26, which increases to about 2.32
after annealing at 600 oC. However the films annealed at 500 oC represent peculiar
behavior as its band gap increases to highest value of 3.24 eV whereas refractive index,
RMS roughness and dc-resistance illustrate a drop as compared to all other films.
Illumination to sunlight decreases the dc-resistance of the as-deposited and annealed
films as compared to dark measurements possibly due to charge carrier enhancement by
photon absorption.
